A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

ROME was not built in a day
Cf. medieval Fr. Rome ne fut pas faite toute en un jour, Rome was not made in one day.

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  1545 R. TAVERNER tr. Erasmus’ Adages (ed. 2) D1^V Rome was not buylt in one daye. 1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs I. xi. D4 Rome was not bylt on a daie (quoth he) and yet stood Tyll it was fynysht. 1646 in Publications of Prince Society (1865) I. 236 Rome was not built in a day. .. Let them produce any colonie.. where more hath been done in 16 yeares. 1849 C. BRONTE Shirley I. vi. As Rome.. had not been built in a day, so neither had Mademoiselle Gerard Moore’s education been completed in a week. 2001 Times 2 6 Nov. 15 Even then, £14 million must still be found from private sources. Not easy.. . Still, Rome wasn’t built in a day. "haste; patience and impatience
  

Rome see also all ROADS lead to Rome; it is ill SITTING at Rome and striving with the Pope.
There is always ROOM at the top
The remark is popularly attributed to the American politician Daniel Webster (1782­1852), and is said to have been his riposte after he had been advised against joining the legal profession on the grounds that it was already overcrowded.

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  1888 Clothier and Furnisher Jan. 38 The sage who so confidently remarked that ‘there is always room at the top’ might have added ‘because too many are pushed off.’ 1900 W. JAMES Letter 2 Apr. (1920) II. 121 Verily there is room at the top. S—seems to be the only Britisher worth thinking of. 1914 A. BENNETT Price of Love vii. The Imperial had set out to be the most gorgeous cinema in the Five Towns; and it simply was. Its advertisements read: ‘There is always room at the top.’ 1957 J. BRAINE Room at Top xxviii. You’re the sort of young man we want. There’s always room at the top. 1980 M. DRABBLE Middle Ground 140 There’s room at the top, maybe, but only for the clever ones. ■ ambition